Heretofore, in order to ensure anonymity and safety in a communication, there have been numbers of techniques in which the communication between a user terminal and a server apparatus is relayed via a relay apparatus set as a relay point, instead of a direct communication in which the communication is performed between the user terminal and the server apparatus.
For example, there has been an HTTP proxy software apparatus such as “Delegate,” in which a communication path can be freely set by a user's manual setting (e.g., refer to Non-Patent Document 1).
Further, there has also been a server apparatus for “CDN (Contents Delivery Network)” or “Akamai,” or the like, configured to lead a user (a user terminal) to a arbitrary server apparatus by rewriting a link destination (URL) of contents (e.g., refer to Patent Document 1).
In recent years, the number of contents on the Internet has dramatically been increased, and various network services using these contents have been provided.
User terminals on the client side for these network services are not necessarily computer apparatuses, but they are in many cases household electrical appliances such as TVs.
In many cases, these user terminals are provided only with a simple communication function, and are not provided with an encrypted communication path function, a holding function of client certificates, a client authentication function, an encryption decryption function, and the like.
Meanwhile, the user possibly possesses high performance user terminals such as a computer apparatus and a cellular phone terminal, in the house.
Accordingly, it can be considered that setting a proxy terminal having a high performance as the relay point so as to perform various processes at this proxy terminal, when an important communication such as a transmission or reception of important contents and a charging protocol is performed.
In addition, by considering a safety and a charging, it is desirable that this proxy terminal and the user terminal be located within the same local network.
On the other hand, it is rather efficient for communication which is not particularly important to be directly performed between the user terminal and the server apparatus.
Further, in providing network services, the server apparatus side holds information necessary to determine an importance of contents.
Hence, there has been required to realize a configuration in which the server apparatus performs a path setting in accordance with the importance of the communication so as to relay the proxy terminal having the high performance, instead of adding a high performance function to the user terminal such as a TV.
However, there has been a problem that the foregoing conventional technique cannot be applied to the HTTP proxy software apparatus in which the path setting by the server apparatus side cannot be performed.
In addition, the server apparatus for the CDN according to the foregoing conventional technique unilaterally determines the proxy terminal as the relay point. Accordingly, there has been a problem that the user cannot set an arbitrary terminal as the proxy terminal, nor set the path which relays, as the proxy terminal, an apparatus in the local network to which the user belongs.                Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,703 “GLOBAL HOSTING SYSTEM”        Non-patent Document 1: Herbert M. Engel, “How to Delegate: A Guide to Getting Things Done,” Gulf Pub Co., ISBN: 0872011704. July 1983        